


Alien

by AnyGivenGame01 (dnicolec)



Category: Alien (1979), Mass Effect
Genre: Alien AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 03:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3712558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dnicolec/pseuds/AnyGivenGame01
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mass Effect Alien AU. You shouldn't need to be familiar with the movie to read this, but it's a good movie so you should watch it anyway.<br/>This isn't one of those AUs that follows the movie word for word and just changes names. It has the same premise but most of the story is changed.<br/>For those of you not familiar with the movie, the plot is basically this:<br/>A small crew is woken from stasis to a distress beacon coming from an uncharted planet. The law demands that they go check for survivors, but what happens when they bring something back? Something that won't rest until every one of them is dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alien

"Hey, Shepard," Verner called from across the small kitchen area. She didn't know why the builders had tried to mimic a real kitchen. All their food was freeze dried and in little packets. The stove wasn't even hooked up.

And Verner himself was sitting up on top of it. The smirk on his face made her want to hit him and his tone of voice suggested he was leading up to a really stupid joke with a really bad punchline.

She sighed and played along anyway. He wasn't the most annoying crew member. Only the second most annoying after Vakarian, the Turian who was currently lounging in the corner, being silent and ominous as usual. "What is it, Verner?" she asked. She hoped her voice was both annoyed enough to convey how much she hated his guts and disinterested enough to convey how hard she was trying to not punch him in the balls.

He didn't seem to get the hint. "Anybody ever tell you that you act like a man? How do we know those," he paused and groped the air with both hands. "aren't just for show? Why don't you give us some proof, huh?"

Miranda sighed and rolled her eyes from beside him, pushing him off the stove and watching with no remorse when he crashed painfully on the floor. "She's going to shoot you one of these days, you dick. And I'm going to laugh and corroborate her story about how you accidently sent yourself out the airlock with the garbage." There was no question at all whether Miranda was a woman. She was like a man's wet dream, all curves and delicate features. Her breasts defied the laws of gravity and Shepard had no problem admitting that she snuck a peek in the showers.

"Hey," Kryik said as he walked in the room. She knew that he was attractive by turian standards, and he wasn't bad by human standards either. He had markings on his face, similar to the other Turians she'd met. In fact, Vakarian was the only Turian without markings that she'd seen. He was the only other Turian on board but he and Vakarian rarely acknowledged each other. "Anyone know why were woken up? We're still lightyears from Earth."

That was a surprise. "What?" She asked, jumping up and pulling up her Omni-tool to check the status of the ship. "He's right. EDI woke us up too early. Kryik have you gone to check on her?"

She had thought that it was strange. Usually when EDI woke them up from cryo-sleep they could at least see Earth in the distance out the windows.

He shook his head, a human habit he'd picked up while working with them. He was forever bemoaning the things he'd started doing since he started working with humans. "Not yet. I thought that maybe Miranda knew something."

Miranda would be the one to know. She was the science officer/medic/repair person. If there was job that needed doing on this ship she was the person to call. She knew more about the ship and the computer that ran it (affectionately named EDI) than Shepard did, and Shepard had been on the team of engineers that had designed and built it.

Miranda looked as out of the loop as the others and pushed herself up from leaning against the counter. "I have no idea why she'd wake us before we got to earth. Unless we happened to come across a distress signal or there was a technical problem. If there was a problem, the system would have alerted Shepard, as the engineer. Maybe check the main hub for a distress signal?"

Kryik nodded and turned back out of the room, but the tenseness in the air did not leave with him. Even Verner was quiet and somber and Vakarian was leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees thoughtfully. The silence was interrupted by a deafening 'beep' that signaled their food was ready in the rehydrater but none of them moved to get it.

When Kryik returned they were all eating solemnly but he looked slightly relieved. "It's not any kind of ship failure," he said. "And EDI is fine too. It's a distress beacon from a nearby planet. It's not Turian. Or human for that matter. I can't make heads or tails of it."

Taylor walked in then, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth and he was humming an oldies song under his breath. He had always had an affinity for really old songs from the 2000s. He seemed to notice the looks he was getting and paused, an eyebrow raised. "What?" he asked around the foamed toothpaste. 

Shepard sighed. "EDI woke us up early because of a distress beacon coming from a nearby planet."

Verner shrugged. "Alert the military and let's get a move on." He glared when Taylor interrupted him by spitting into the sink and cupping his hands to gather water to swish out what was left over. He shook his head and continued. "We're a commercial ship, this isn't in our job description."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "Actually, it is. It's the law that any commercial vessel that comes across a ship in distress has to investigate and look for survivors."

Verner frowned. "That's a dumb law."

"Well, dumb law or not, we should at least look for survivors," Kryik said, dropping into a seat beside her.

"Can I take a look at the signal, Sir? Maybe I can determine its origins. Figure out when this ship crashed."

"I already sent it to your Omni-tool. See if you can make sense of it. Taylor, Verner and I will head out to see what's up."

Shepard frowned. "What? Sir, Verner couldn't shoot the ear off a pyjak! I should go." She ignored Verner's indignant 'Hey!' and continued staring Kryik down in determination.

"I need you here if something happens out there, Shepard. When Taylor and I are off the ship you're in charge."

"But, Sir-"

"Don't argue with me, Shepard. Get to work analyzing that signal we leave in an hour."

Verner frowned. "But there's nothing out there."

Kryik lead him to the giant window and pointed. "See that roughly circular blank space with no stars? That's it. This far from this system's sun, it's hard to see, but if you look close enough you can see some light around the edges. Go suit up. We're taking the drop ship in no later than one hour."

\----------------

Shepard was still annoyed at being left behind as she watched the drop ship descend to the stormy surface of the planet. The sun had risen around the planet a few minutes ago so it was slightly easier to see, but there wasn't much to look at. It was still dark and all they could see were black storm clouds dancing around. 

She focused instead on analyzing the distress signal. She lost track of how long she worked before she reached a break through.

"Miranda!" she called, running out of the cockpit and searching for her brunette friend. "Miranda! Call them back. It's a warning. It's not a distress beacon. It's a warning!"

She couldn't find the other woman anywhere. What she couldn't understand is why EDI woke them up. She should have easily been about to recognize the signal as a warning. As she was searching for Miranda, she heard a voice over the intercom.  
The others were back and they didn't sound successful.

"Shepard!" she heard Taylor's voice call. "Open the door, we've got a medical emergency."

She walked to the nearest terminal. "No can do. I just deciphered the signal. It's a warning to stay away from the planet."

"And we just figured out why! Open the damn door! Kryik, tell her."

"I'm not going to open that door," she hissed. "You all have to be quarantined in there for at least twenty-four hours. Kryik knows the rules. You've probably all been exposed to something." She finally managed to get a visual from the camera out in the airlock. Verner was laying on the ground with some kind of creature over his face, like a giant spider. "The hell is that thing? There is no fucking way I'm letting that thing come aboard. It'll infect all of us."

Kryik came into the frame. "Shepard, we're not sick. There's no pathogen, EDI would sense it on us."

"Well, she's not been very helpful lately. She couldn't even tell the difference between a distress signal and a warning. That thing is not getting on."

There was a ding and the doors slid open. "Take Verner to the medbay," said Miranda's voice over the intercom. "I'll look him over."

She was fuming as she stomped down the hall, this time finding the woman easily. "Miranda! When Kryik and Taylor are off the ship, I'm in charge and I said not to open that door."

She looked entirely unimpressed. "They're not sick, Shepard. I'll check them all over in the medbay, but we need to study that thing on Verner."

"What we need to do is shoot it out the airlock! With Verner attached if need be. We have no idea what that thing is, it could kill us all."

Miranda turned on her heel without answering and Shepard followed her down to the medbay, only to be stopped in her tracks when they reached it and Taylor stepped in her way.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Shepard! You were going to leave us out there!"

"You're damn right I was! You have no idea what that thing is capable of. We need to get it off the ship before we take something back to Earth."

Kryik stepped between them and gently pushed them away from each other. "Both of you need to take a deep breath and calm down. Taylor, in Shepard's place I would have done the exact same thing. Shepard, Taylor has every right to be a little peeved that you were willing to let him die out there, not that he would have since we're not sick. Okay? Do I need to put you both in time out?" He was trying to make a joke, but from a Turian it came off a bit stale and forced. Vakarian chuckled anyway from behind her and she wondered why she hadn't felt him sneak up behind her.

She sighed and moved away from the men to look into the window of the medbay. Miranda was in her scrubs and was gingerly poking the thing on Verner's face. When he brushed against the odd tendril wrapped around the young man's throat it tightened and suddenly his vitals went red. She held up her hands and stepped away from the body and after a minute it loosened back out and his vitals slowly moved back down to normal range.

"What the hell is that thing?" she asked quietly. "What happened out there?"

"We don't know," Kryik said, coming up to stand beside her. "We found some kind of crevice inside an alien ship. We lowered him down. As I was lowering Taylor, we heard him scream. Taylor brought him up and when we saw him in the light… that thing melted through his helmet but he was still breathing. It was like it was feeding him oxygen to keep him alive."

"Like a parasite," Vakarian said. It was one of the five sentences she'd ever heard him say, including the one word ones. "Keeping its host alive. And if we try to remove it forcefully it'll kill it's host anyway."

Kryik sneered at him. Shepard had never seen the older Turian look so annoyed at some else's presence as he did around Vakarian. It must have been a Turian thing. He didn't answer, so she did.

"That what it looks like," she said, running a hand through her red hair. "This trip just got way more complicated. We're not taking that thing back to Earth. We either need to get it the fuck off Verner and throw it out with the piss or we need to send him out with it." Kryik opened his mouth to speak so she spoke over him. "Sir, you know that I usually fall in line. You've never led us astray. I have no reason not to trust you. But if you fight me on this I still have friends in the military who will be happy to shoot us out of the sky if we get within a lightyear of the Sol System with that thing aboard."

"Why are you so adamant?" Vakarian asked. "I agree with you, but I'm just wondering why you're so willing to stand up to your boss about this."

She took a deep breath and turned back to stare at the creature. "I have… a really bad feeling about that thing. Every time I see it I feel this hopeless sense of dread. It's the same feeling I got on Torfan. Before the final battle." She hoped no one asked her to explain Torfan. They should all know her history. Ex-military, dishonorably discharged after a battle against Batarian slavers on Torfan. "In the Alliance I learned to trust my gut. Thousands of soldiers died on Trofan but my instincts saved a thousand more and five thousand civilians. Trust me now, when I say that that thing is bad news. I have no problem sacrificing one man to save everyone else on this ship and on Earth who might come into contact with it."

She left it at that and turned on her heel to walk away. She could only hope now that Kryik would listen to her and throw Verner out with the bathwater. 

\----------------

She was sleeping peacefully when Taylor's voice crashed through her serenity. "Shepard!" he called, bursting into the lady's bunk. It was really just hers, since Miranda spent most nights in the control room going over science-y stuff that was way over everyone else's heads. Shepard was an engineer, she understood ships and machines, but whatever it was that Miranda was into made her feel like a plebian.

The voice had her reaching for the gun that she kept hidden under her pillow, but she recognized the voice and just felt annoyed instead of murderous.

"Whaaaaaaat!" she whined, trying to smother his voice with her pillow. "Go awaaaaaaay!"

"Shepard, it's gone!"

She snapped to attention then, sitting up hurriedly and not caring that she was in her just her underwear and a loose tank top. She scrambled out of bed and ran passed the man in the doorway and down to the medbay.  
The others were all there and Kryik shushed her when she slid in.

"We don't want to startle it," he said, moving quietly farther into the room. Vakarian was there too, looking around on the other side of the room. Miranda was hovering over Verner, checking his vitals. They were low but he was alive.  
She crept forward, coming up beside Vakarian, and looking under the tables and chairs. "Anything?" she asked quietly.

"No. It couldn't get out of here. The whole place is sealed to keep in contagions. Even the vents go directly out into space instead of circulating."

"Maybe it scuttled out the door when someone opened it?"

He shook his head. "It's not like this is a… what do you humans have… a mouse. This thing is the size of a human face. Would you miss a human face running out the door beside your foot?"

She chuckled and his mandibles fluttered in what she could only assume was a Turian's version of a smile. "No, I guess not. So, where is it then?"

"My guess is in the ceiling."

She stood up straight and reached up, gently pushing on the acoustic ceiling and she noticed a pretty sizable gap between the tiles and the metal above it. "Yeah, if I was a human face that's where I'd hide too."

He covered his mouth but not in time to smother a quiet laugh. He swallowed his mirth and cleared his throat before helping her push on the ceiling. He had little trouble, but she was shorter than him and had to stand on her tiptoes. They moved closer to the center of the room, pressing on the ceiling all the way. She pushed on one tile and it fell down, along with a dark, spider-like figure.

Miranda screeched and stomped on it as hard as she probably could with one of her high heels before kicking it away.

"It's dead!" Shepard said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's dead. If it wasn't before it certainly is now. Nice work." She pat Miranda's shoulder and moved slowly over to the creature. "No one touch it." She pulled a gun off Vakarian's hip and he didn't seem to mind. She moved closer and pocked it with the muzzle to check that it was really dead. It didn't move. She shot it anyway.

"Damn it, Shepard! You've compromised it! Now how are we going to learn anything from it?"

"The only thing that I needed to learn about it was how to kill it. It's killed. Isn't knowledge great? Let's space this thing and head home."

"No, please, just let me research it. Kryik, tell her. I need to study it."

"We are not going to Earth with that thing aboard. I thought that I made that perfectly clear. End of discussion." She handed Vakarian back his gun and turned to head out the door. "Thanks for the gun, Vakarian. If anyone needs me, I'll be asleep. And don't send Taylor to wake me next time. I almost shot him."

As she walked back upstairs and quickly realized that she was pumping too much adrenaline to go back to sleep so she dressed and went to the kitchen instead. It was an hour before anyone else joined her. She wasn't eating, just checking EDI's stats and trying to figure out how long it would take to get to Earth if they resumed their course this morning. If it wasn't going to be too long they probably wouldn't even need to get back into their statis pods.

Vakarian was the only one not with them. To her surprise, Verner was there. He grinned at her and dropped himself into the chair across from her. "Good morning, Shepard," he said. "What'd I miss?"

She smiled but even to her it felt forced. She felt a little guilty about being so willing to throw him out the airlock, but she knew that if it had come to that she would have no remorse. "Not much, Verner. Just talked back to the boss and will probably get fired when we reach Earth, no biggie. Anything new with you? How are you feeling?"

"Like a million bucks!" He looked it too. If she hadn't seen it for herself she never would have believed that he had been comatose in bed just that morning. "Any chance we can break out the alcohol? I feel like celebrating my life. I know we've got some on reserve in the cargo hold."

Shepard chuckled and stood. "I'll go get it." Maybe alcohol would make this easier.

She left the kitchen and headed towards the cargo hold, coming across Vakarian in the hall. "Hey, I heard that Verner was up and moving," he said. "How is he?"

"As obnoxious as usual. I was just going to get some booze. Wanna join us?"

"Thanks, but I don't think Kryik would want me there."

"I've noticed that he doesn't seem to like you. Okay, that's being kind. He hates your freaking guts. What is up with that?"

Vakarian chuckled and pointed to his face. "I'm clanless."

"What, the marks? You're the only Turian I've seen who doesn't have them."

"It's because I disgraced my clan. They disowned me. I can't think of a human equivalent to explain it. The clanless are outcasts. No respectable Turian like Kryik would speak to one unless he had no choice. The only reason I'm on this ship is because Kryik wasn't given a choice about the crew."

"What happened?" she asked. "If you don't mind telling me that is."

"I don't mind. I was training to be a Spectre."

Shepard felt her eyes widen. "A Spectre? Wow, what the hell are you doing in this shit hole?"

"I failed a mission. Got my mentor killed because I wanted to save a civilian instead of prioritizing the mission. After that, my clan disowned me. Without a clan to my name, the councilor withdrew his recommendation and I got kicked out of training."

"Because you saved a civilian? That's bullshit. I don't know the details, but I probably would have done the same thing. A soldier is expendable. Saving civilians is why we became soldiers in the first place."

He stared at her for a moment without speaking. She couldn't decipher his expression but he didn't seem angry or anything. His mandibles flapped and he started moving away. "Thanks. You better get that booze before Verner throws a-" he cut off when a pained scream echoed down the hall. 

Before she even realized what she was doing, she was running back to the kitchen when Vakarian close behind her. The screams got louder and soon she realized that everyone was screaming. When she burst into the kitchen something shot between her legs. She stomped on its tail and the tail detached easily before it continued swiftly down the hall and into the darkness.

"What the hell?!" she asked, turning back to look at the scene. Verner was on the table, his eyes lifeless. Probably because of the giant bloody hole in his chest. It looked like something had exploded out of him.

Miranda was gasping for breath, pressing herself to the wall and holding her hand to her mouth. Kryik looked just as shaken and Taylor was vomiting in the bin.

"What happened here?" Vakarian asked, his voice low in shock. "What was the thing?"

Miranda spoke first. "It just crawled out of him," she said. "One minute he was fine, the next that thing was clawing its way out from the inside."

"I knew we should have spaced him and the creature when we had the chance." She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. "That spider must have been some kind of.. middle man. It put that creature inside of Verner to incubate."

"Like a chicken?" Taylor asked, pulling his head out of the bin. He looked dazed.

"Go get a drink, Taylor." She understood he was shaken up. He just saw his crew member explode and something crawl out. If she'd been there to see it she probably would have been the same way. "We need to figure something out. It's tiny, a baby. We can take on a baby, right? We'll split up and- holy shit!" She happened to glance back at where she had stomped the creature and there was a hole in the floor where it's pitiful little tail laid. Some kind of green acid was leaking out of it and burning through the metal. 

Vakarian seemed to notice the problem too and he ran across the hall to the stairs. She followed him and they easily found the hole, but it continued down to the next deck.

"It's gonna eat right through the hull!" he exclaimed. He ran back to the stairs and she followed him down. The next one was a bit smaller, but it still continued through the floor. They went down to the final level, bypassing the next one all together.

"I can't find it," she said in panic as she looked over the ceiling. 

"There!" he said finally. He looked down and breathed a sigh of relief. "It didn't reach the hull."

They were quiet for a moment, Shepard wiping sweat from her brow. "That was too close. That thing bleeds acid. We can't shoot it. How are we supposed to kill it?"

"Didn't you shoot the spider back in the medbay?"

She nodded and they quickly moved around the lower deck to make sure that no acid blood had eaten from under the medbay. There was a similarly sized hole but, once again, it didn't reach the hull.

"Okay…" Shepard said, pacing back and forth. "We can't shoot it. We can't bring it back to Earth. Don't we have flamethrowers somewhere? That'll cauterize any wound we make on it while simultaneously burning it to a crisp."

"I'll go let everyone know what's going on. You go get the flamethrowers."

"I don't think anyone should be by themselves," she said, following him back up the stairs. "Until we know what that thing is, what it's capabilities are, we can't underestimate it. Even if it is a baby. We'll both go to the cargo hold together."

"Good idea. Let's hurry though, so that they don't wander off."

"I don't think they're going anywhere. They were so shaken, I think they could barely walk. We're soldiers, Vakarian. They're just civilians. It's natural they wouldn't be able to handle this as well as us."

"Kryik is a Turian. He's probably over it already. We need to make sure he stays put."

"Let's move, then. I don't want to be caught unaware. We need weapons fast."

"Agreed."

When they finally made it to the cargo hold, they found the flamethrowers easily enough. "Find the motion detectors too," Shepard called, hopefully loud enough for him to hear on the other side of the room.

"Got 'em. Anything else?"

"See if you can find any nets. I'll look for- there they are." She picked up a few electric prods and balanced them in her arms with the flamethrowers. "Alright, let's hurry back. We'll divide everything up and split into two groups."

He nodded as he came into view. "We should each be in one of the groups. A soldier to keep them calm."

"Good idea. I'll take Kryik so you don't have to."

"Thank you," he said, over exaggerating the words and causing her to laugh. 

They reached the kitchen quickly and neither of the humans had moved. Kryik had gone to sit in a chair and he looked relatively calm, but alert. "Weapons," he said when they walked in. "Good idea. No guns?"

"That thing bleeds acid. Any wound we inflict would eat through the hull." She sat her things on the table and got everyone's attention by clearing her throat. Taylor looked up from his cup of water and Miranda turned from the window, grim looks on their faces. "I'm officially taking over. Vakarian and I are the only ones with military experience and until the second that the airlock shuts behind that thing, we are at war. Do you understand? I don't care if you're my boss. Until the time that that thing is off the ship I'm the boss. You will follow my orders to the letter or you will probably die." She passed Kryik a flamethrower and an electric prod. "It bleeds acid. Don't make it bleed or we'll all die. Try to catch it if you can to avoid any accidental bleeding."

Taylor was standing then, moving towards the table to pick up a net. "Are we splitting up?"

"Just into two teams. No one is to go anywhere by themselves. If you have to piss, you piss together. Vakarian will head the second team. Follow his orders like you would follow mine. For all intents and purposes he is me. Is that understood?"

Miranda moved forwards as well, plucking a net off the table. She was quiet. It unnerved Shepard a bit. She was getting that feeling again. The one she got before Torfan and when she saw the spider creature for the first time. She'd have to be careful around Miranda.

"Miranda's on my team," she said quickly. "And Kryik. Vakarian, you got Taylor?"

He glanced over her shoulder at the smaller man and nodded. "We'll have a grand ol' time, right Taylor?"

Taylor gave him a shaky smile and picked up a flamethrower. "This your idea of fun, Vakarian?"

"I'm a Turian. We don't have any ideas of fun," he said, but his mandibles flapped briefly before he turned and left the room. Taylor scurried behind him.

"Keep in radio contact," she called to them. Vakarian raised his arm and waved his three-fingered hand to let her know that he heard, but didn't turn and continued forward. She turned to her team then, and picked up a flamethrower. It hung off her shoulder heavily but she was covered in muscle and held it easily. "Let's head out. Miranda, grab a net."

The woman nodded and picked up as she followed her out.

\----------------

Everything was quiet for almost an hour of slowly exploring the ship before Vakarian's voice came over the radio.  
"Shepard!" he said, his voice full of panic. "It got Taylor."

"What do you mean 'It got Taylor'? It's the size of my arm, it can't take him anywhere."

"Not anymore. It's huge. The size of one and a half of me. It's black too, couldn't even see it in the dark. I couldn't make out much of anything about it other than its size. I haven't moved and it hasn't come for me. I think it just wanted him for now. Where are you?"

She looked around idly. "In the control room. We'll come up with a new plan when you get here. Nets and cattle prods aren't going to work anymore. Be careful and move slowly. We'll wait for you here. Stay on the radio."

"I'm just down a level from you," he said. "I'll be right up."

He was quiet. "Vakarian," she said. "Keep talking."

"Okay, alright. So you'll know if something happens to me?"

"No, of course not."

"I'm a soldier, Shepard, remember? I know this trick." She smiled a little and waited for him to keep talking. 

"Tell me about yourself," she said.

"You already know everything interesting about me. Failed Spectre. Clanless." She heard Kryik snort behind her and turned to glare at him. "I like to bowl. I saw some humans doing it one time and decided to try it. Loved it."

"Bowling? You? Really?" she asked, chuckling.

"I know you humans look down on it, but I really do love it. We should go sometime after this mess is over. Well I mean- What I mean is… I'm not trying to ask you out on a date I meant… all of us… together- not as a date." He was quiet again, probably from embarrassment and when he spoke again it sounded like he was forcing himself to. "I like human literature too. Vonnegut is my favorite. And Orwell. I have this program on my Omni-tool that has them translated them into Turian. The only person from my clan that still talks to me is my sister. She was supposed to cut me out of her life completely and if my father found out he'd punish her without a doubt. I know I should tell her to stop before she gets in trouble but I'm too selfish. I want to be a part of her life. She invited me to her wedding. We both know I can't go because I'd be arrested on sight, but the fact that she wants me there makes me feel better. I'm babbling now. I know that I shouldn't stop talking but I'm babbling now. I'm coming up on the control room… I'm at the door."

She looked up and saw him standing in the doorway and smiled. "Good job, Vakarian. Come sit down."

He nodded and walked over to the chairs, dropping into the seat next to Miranda.

Shepard sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she paced. It was a bad habit of hers. "Okay, we need a new plan. We can't carry this thing to the airlock. We'll have to drive it that way. If only we knew where it was hiding… how it was getting around without us seeing it."

"Vents," Kryik said standing and pulling up a map of the ship on his omni-tool. "The vents on this ship are huge, way bigger than they probably should be."

"It was a design flaw, don't look at me. I just built the thing," Shepard said, moving close to look at the map over his shoulder. "They could fit a roughly human sized creature in them, but if it's as big as Vakarian said I doubt it could fit."

"Do you have any other ideas?"

Shepard forced out a breath and picked up her flamethrower. "Okay, new plan. I'll climb into the vents with this and drive it towards the airlock. I need one person on the map and one person ready to space the thing the second it gets there. Also one person to hold the rope. If the vent is still open when the airlock opens, I don't want to be sucked out with it."

"I'll do it," Kryik said. "I'll go in the vents."

"Kryik, don't question my orders. I'm going in the vents."

"You know this place the best, you need to be on the map and motion detector so that you can tell the person inside where to go."

"You won't fit."

"If that thing can fit then I can fit."

Shepard shook her head. "Kryik I-"

"Please, Shepard. It's my fault this thing is on the ship. It's my fault that Taylor is dead. If I can put an end to this, I have to try," he said pleadingly.

She sighed. "Fine. But you follow my directions exactly. And if you screw up we can't send anyone in after you."

"I understand."

"Okay, then if everyone understands the plan, let's head out.

\----------------

"You okay in there?" she asked over the radio.

"Peachy," he grunted. She could hear the creak of metal and the sound of his breathing. "Where am I going?"

"You're about to come up to a fork. Go left."

"I see it… moving forward." Miranda was beside her holding the rope tightly as it slid between her fingers the further he moved. "Where now?"

"There's a five point intersection. Go to the third vent to the right."

"My right or your right?"

"Your right."

Miranda snorted in nervous laughter beside her and she couldn't help but smile.

"How far am I from this thing?"

"About fifty feet. You should have the flamethrower ready. You're about to come up to a kind of corridor. You should be able to stand. It's about thirty feet to your left. It's not moving. We should go radio silent except for an emergency. Clear?"

"Crystal." 

She switched frequencies quickly. "Vakarian. How is everything on your end?"

"My hand is hovering over the big red button that'll send it flying ass first into space. So, I'm feeling pretty good."

Shepard laughed. "Okay, Kryik is getting close. Be ready."

"Will do."

She switched back to Kryik and focused on the motion detector. The creature wasn't moving as the turian got closer but then it suddenly vanished all together. "Kryik!" she said. "It's gone!"

"What do you mean 'gone'?"

"I mean it's not there. One second it's there the next it's not. I don't understand."

"Is it the batteries?"

"Don't be stupid, you think I didn't check the batteries before we did this? Besides, you're still showing up."

"I'll head back, see if we can-ahhhh!"

"Kryik?" she called. "Kryik, are you there? Shit!"

She jumped to her feet and switched frequencies. "Vakarian, it's got Kryik. New-new plan. We're blowing this thing to smithereens, meet me in the medbay."

"Shepard, we can't blow this ship up," Miranda said, moving so that she was in front of her to stop her from advancing. "We're still on it."

"We're going to jump on the shuttle. There are only two pods so two of us will have to share but we can make it work."

"Then why the med bay? It's on the wrong side of the ship."

"We need supplies. We'll grab a few things, then you and Vakarian are gonna go to the shuttle. I'll initiate the lockdown and run to meet you. If I'm not back with five minutes left in the countdown you leave without me."

"Shepard, we cannot blow this thing!"

Shepard glared at her. "What are you talking about? Of course we're… Miranda?" Miranda held out her cattle prod and turned it on. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry. But the crew is expendable."

Then Miranda stabbed the prod into her stomach and shot her full of electricity. She was blinded by pain before blacking out.

\----------------

When she woke it was silent around her. Her vision swam as she tried to sit up and she grabbed the wall to support herself as she moved to her feet. She grabbed the radio and leaned against the wall. "Vakarian?" she was met with static.  
She groaned and shambled forward. She need to get to EDI to start the shutdown. EDI's room was near the control room and it took her a few tries to get oriented but she eventually stumbled down the correct hallway. As the only person left in the chain of command, the door slid open easily and she dropped heavily into the chair in front of the many monitors.

"EDI," she said, rubbing her temples. "Begin…. Begin shutdown procedures."

"I'm sorry, but Operative Lawson has overridden your access to all shutdown operations," said EDI's mechanical voice.

"Operative Lawson? You mean Miranda?"

A file popped up on the monitor. "Operative Miranda Lawson. Android created by Cerberus with the intent of recovering the life form on the planet designated O-515, codename: Xenomorph. Crew expendable."

Shepard growled and rose from the chair, finally able to stand straight. "I'll just do it manually, then. EDI. Can you give me a location of Miranda and Vakarian?"

"Miranda is in the cockpit. Vakarian is in the medbay, seemingly unconscious."

She moved out of the room and headed down the nearby stairs to the medbay, moving quietly in the hopes that Miranda wasn't aware that she was awake yet. She found Vakarian laying face first on the floor and gingerly moved him into a sitting posision.  
"Wake up," she said, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up Vakarian, I know you're alive."

He groggily opened his eyes and they fluttered closed again before he suddenly sat up and must have remembered what happened. "Where's Miranda?" he asked, his words slightly slurred. He shook his head and seemed to become coherent. "Miranda is an android. She betrayed us."

"I know, but you're not going after her. You're too uncoordinated. I'm going to take care of her and turn on the shutdown. You shamble down the hall to the shuttle. If I'm not there five minutes before the shutdown ends, you book it. Do you understand?"

"I understand." He suddenly grabbed her by both sides of her head and smashed his face into hers.

"Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed, moving away and grabbing her nose.

"Sorry!" he said hurriedly. "I was trying to kiss you, but I've never done it before."

"For God's sake, why?!"

"I thought humans did that with people they were interested in starting a romantic relationship with!"

"Is now really the best time?! Do low odds of surviving turn Turians on or something?!"

"I just wasn't sure if I'd get another chance to do it!"

"I think you broke my nose, is there any blood?" she tilted her head back for him to check and then sighed when he shook his head. She grabbed his carapace gently. "Don't move," she hissed as she leaned forward and pressed her lips gently to the plates around his mouth. "That was a kiss. What you did was try to give me a concussion."

He was quiet for a moment before his mandibles flapped. "I don't think I understood. Maybe you should show me again."

Shepard laughed and kissed chastely before moving to her feet. "Get to the shuttle. I'll be there soon. Take a flamethrower in case you run into the son of a bitch, then roast him for me, okay Vakarian?"

"Call me Garrus."

She smiled. "Okay Garrus?"

"Okay."

She moved quickly out of the room and headed back up the stairs, turning down the hall to the cockpit. She pulled out her gun and clicked off the safety. Androids didn't have acid blood. Androids she could shoot.

When she walked into the cockpit she brought he gun up quickly, aiming it at the brunette woman standing at the computer. "Shepard," she said. "I knew that I hadn't killed you. You're too stubborn for that."

"Step away from the computer, Miranda. We're not taking that thing back to Earth. It decimated our crew in the course of a few hours. It bleeds acid! Think of what it could do to the innocent people who open the ship."

"I wasn't not programmed for that. I was programmed to put the mission first. Humans are expendable."

"Not civilians. Never innocent civilians. Even Cerberus has to agree with that! Aren't you people all about the protection and advancement of the human race?"

"This is about the advancement of the human race. The Illusive Man has plans for the creature."

"Well, he'll just have to get used to disappointment." She fired then, right at Miranda's head. White liquid burst out of the entry wound as her body crumpled to the ground and Shepard, oddly, felt a bit of remorse. She'd grown to like Miranda over the time they'd worked together. 

She moved quickly then. She had no time to waste. She pulled open the panel on the floor and started pulling out the cooling towers until the ship started to overheat and shutdown began. A countdown started loudly over the intercom.

"Twenty minutes until self destruction…. nineteen minutes until self destruction…."

Shepard stood and hurriedly ran for the door, only to stop when she saw a towering black figure. It was the first time she'd seen it.

It was black and smooth all over and nearly twice as tall as she was. Its arms were long and ended in deadly claws and its feet resembled a dinosaur's. It moved closer and she backed up slowly. If she could just reach the flamethrower Miranda had left on the ground…

As it got closer, it opened its mouth and a smaller mouth came out, snapping close to her face.

She pulled her flamethrower off the floor and aimed it right at its face, firing and moving around it and running out the door while it was distracted.

EDI's voice still counted down over the intercom. "Ten minutes until self destruction… nine minutes until self destruction…"

She ran as fast as her feet and military training would take her, down the stairs and passed the medbay, pausing briefly to make sure that Garrus has gotten out. He was nowhere to be seen and she felt relieved, even though a voice in the back of her mind reminded her that that could be because the creature got him.

She heard the creature behind her and hurried to the shuttle, shutting and locking it behind her.

"Garrus?" she called, when she didn't see him right away. "Garrus?"

"Right here," he said, coming out from behind the statis pods. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. We need to go. He was right behind me-"

The ceiling vent crashed down in front of her and the creature stood to full height, hissing at her. "Grab onto something!" Garrus called.

She didn't hesitate. She grabbed a pipe coming from the wall and wrapped her arm around it until she was secure. Just as she did, the door opened and the creature was pulled off its feet and into the vastness of space. Her feet were pulled off the ground and she struggled to hold on. Just as she felt her grip start to slip, the doors closed and she fell to the ground. Garrus was there quickly, helping her to her feet.

"Six minutes to self destruction… five minutes to self destruction…."

"We have to get out of here!" she screamed, pushing out of his arms and running over to the control panel. She felt the shuttle release from the ship and speed away. They didn't get far enough in time and the shuttle jolted when the ship exploded, sending Garrus and Shepard to the ground, tangled in each other's arms, but they were otherwise unharmed. 

They were breathing deeply, trying to catch their breath and when they could finally breathe normally they turned to each other.

Shepard grinned and then started laughing manically and it wasn't long before Garrus joined in. "I can't believe we survived," she mumbled, after their laughter died down. "I gotta admit, I was feeling pretty pessimistic about the whole thing for a while there."

"I never had any doubt you'd survive."

"Really?"

"You're a survivor. It's what you do. I've read your file, I know all the amazing things you've done. I never doubted for a second that you'd survive this."

She kissed his mouth twice before sitting up. "I wish we could have saved the others." She sat on a nearby chair and went over the last encounter with Miranda in her mind. "Garrus, what was Taylor's job before he came here?" she asked.

He paused thoughtfully and didn't bother moving off the ground. "A place called Cerberus, I think. Why?"

"He knew. The whole time he knew what we were getting into. Kryik too. He had access to EDI, he knew the real reason we were sent on this mission and it wasn't to pick up medicine. The rest of us were just for appearances, to make this all look legit. We need to get someone on Earth to investigate Cerberus. They're into some freaky stuff. They wanted to use that creature. Probably to make it into a weapon."

Garrus finally sat up and pulled himself up to his feet using her knee to support himself. "There's nothing we can do about that now. We're not in range of any communication towers. There's nothing we can do until we reach Earth. Let's set up the auto-pilot and go into statis and we'll take care of this later."

She nodded and stood, walking over to the control panel. She pressed a few buttons and when she turned she saw Garrus, nearly naked, standing by one of the pods. "Too bad we'll have to wait until we get to Earth to kiss again," she said jokingly as she undressed as well.

"We could share a stasis pod," he suggested hopefully.

"I think not." She was grinning teasingly as she lowered herself into the second pod and watched him pout as his pod closed around him. "We should definitely go bowling though. Just the two of us. As a date."

And the hers closed as well and it wasn't long before she fell asleep.

THE END


End file.
